The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy maintains this blog to disseminate information relevant to astronomers who identify as women. If you have an idea for a blog post or topic, please submit to wia-blog at lists.aas.org.
The views expressed on this site are not necessarily the views of the CSWA, the AAS, its Board of Trustees, or its membership.

Childcare Onsite The AAS will provide childcare onsite during the meeting through the Kiddie Coprs Service. Care will be available Sunday, 3 January 2010 through Thursday, 7 January 2010. The cost of care is per $8 hour. The advance registration deadline is 20 November 2009.

Childcare Grants Childcare grants are available for up to $250 per family for those that wish to bring children to the meeting. Parents are responsible for making arrangements for childcare. To apply for a childcare grant please fill out the Childcare Grant Application. If requests exceed available funding, preference will be given to those in the early stages of their careers.

Childcare Sharing Please visit the Childcare Sharing Forum to find other attendees interested in sharing childcare. You will need to register to view and post on the forum.

Carol W. Greider of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was one of three women who won a science Nobel last week, which puts her in some rare company. Only eight women had won in physiology or medicine, and there has never been a year when three women won Nobels in the sciences. Dr. Greider shared her prize with Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak for their research on telomeres.

Here is a link for the NYT article entitled, "A Conversation with Carol W. Greider on Winning a Nobel Prize in Science"

This year's Roslyn Silver '27 Science Lecture will be presented by Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. Professor Franklin will discuss her research involving new elemental particles, as well as her prospective work with the Large Hydron Collider and its potential to answer questions about how the elementary constituents of matter come together to create more complex forces. She will also discuss the challenges in navigating the university and the international laboratory, and the importance of having "a lab of one's own" to allow for independent thinking.

Back to top.4. Older Women to Work on Physics?From: WIPHYS Oct 15, 2009

[May we suggest using the term 'Senior Women' rather than 'Older Women'? -- Eds.]

Count me as an aging wannabe who got a great degree -well 2- and not the encouragement I needed to finish the PhD and do the work that I wanted. Result: decades of endless misery. 2 things--even now, were I young enough there are no fellowships for these cases, and we are many--most of my life I avoided the APS because reading about other people's fun was so sad. And 2, even though I am old, the mental apparatus is still pretty good though it works differently. And again, we are many. I saw last week a press release from the State Department no less (Thanks Hillary) about helping women entrepreneurs, and there are numerous books out on crowd wisdom basically arguing that a roomful of ordinary people will devise a better answer to a problem than a small number of PhDs in the specialty.

So maybe there are a group of women who still want to work on physics but don't have the credentials who can just be clued into: here is an unsolved problem and some lines of attack-- to see if anything comes of it. The structure if any would have to be worked out. Most of us have jobs which would preclude formally participating, but having conversations with others about a topic is still allowed, I think. Just something to consider-- all that wasted talent out there which just might have a good idea given a problem to focus upon. And possibly mixing up people whose lives have taken different paths could create a different kind of solution, I don't know.

and fax it to the number on the form. Applications must be received by December 15, 2009 to be considered by a subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP). In the event that the number of requests for grants exceeds the funding available, preference will be given to applicants in the early stages of their careers.

Back to top.6. Woman Who Fell in Love with the SkyFrom: Carolina Brühl [bruhlita_at_gmail.com]

[We received a contribution with a link to the following article in Spanish. The version included below is courtesy of Google translator; we apologize for the butchered English -- Eds.]

Caption: Maria Carolina Rojas Brühl thanks Germain Puerta, one of the most important astronomers of the country, for entering this world.

The great universe, with planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae are his true passion. 11 years ago, when Maria Carolina Rojas Brühl joined Autodidactas Astronomers Association of Colombia (Asasac), she was the only woman. Today, that outlook has not changed. It has 40 male partners who respect her as an astronomer in the macho world of the national astronomy, a similar picture to the world. But all these men are happy with the appointed director of the Astronomical Observatory Leonardo da Vinci Italian School, one of the most beautiful and complete schools of the city with two telescopes that are used to give classes to students and also for those who want go to watch the sky on Thursday night, for public observing. This love of heaven says to look at not only one of the great pleasures of life, "is also free. It costs us and we can learn so much ... There's the life." Civil engineer just because the race did not exist in Colombia when she finished school (a year ago opened the faculty at the University of Antioquia, a four-year undergraduate), left lying bridges and terrestrial channels to look up. A hobby she had since childhood, when she saw television programs by Carl Sagan she realized that the universe is organized, and we were-and are-a very small but beautiful. "

Her mom started buying books on astronomy and she became aware of all eclipses so her daughter is not lost. She was becoming an expert with binoculars looking at the sky, without fail, every night. 10 years ago she bought her first telescope. And even after all this time, she still believes that the Moon and its craters are spectacular, Jupiter and its moons look like a painting, to look at Saturn and Mars is a pleasure, and to appreciate the stars, nebulae and distant galaxies is a blessing. "I know I'm looking at the past. The Sun that was observed in eight minutes ago and it is possible that many of the stars no longer exist," she says. The Da Vinci observatory mission is to strengthen the squad Astronomy Club, disseminate and promote astronomy with teachers and administrative facility, as well as parents. Also, connecting the observatory with others in the world to do research. Brühl is convinced that educating children in science subjects makes different people. "When they are shown rescuing the sky can be so wrong road and that happens in any stratum, since I have worked with low-income children and their emotions are the same. I think that astronomy can do better for a society like ours," says. His dream, while continuing to observe the sky, you see the facilities of the Arecibo telescope (Puerto Rico), which seeks intelligent life in the big universe that exists beyond Earth. And she believes there is. Like, is confident that when they no longer exist, will go "live" to heaven. "We are made of many materials of stars. Maybe that's what we become."

On behalf of the NASA Astrophysics Division, the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) is pleased to announce the annual competition for the Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, in cooperation with host institutions throughout the United States. The primary objective of the Program is to provide opportunities for postdoctoral research on problems that are broadly related to the scientific goals of the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program as addressed by any of the missions of this program. These include high energy astrophysics relevant to the Chandra, Fermi, XMM-Newton, and IXO (formerly Constellation-X) missions, cosmological investigations relevant to the Planck and JDEM missions, and gravitational astrophysics relevant to the LISA mission. This program is open to applicants of any nationality who earn doctoral degrees between January 1, 2007 and September 1, 2010 in astronomy, physics, or related disciplines. The Fellowships are tenable at any U.S. institution where Physics of the Cosmos related research can be carried out.

The Fellowship is initially for two years, with the expectation of a third year, contingent upon performance and available funding. Subject to the availability of NASA funding up to 10 Einstein Fellows will be appointed this year, through grants to United States institutions.

The Call for Proposals for the Fellowship Program, which includes detailed Program policies and application instructions is available on the World Wide Web at http://cxc.harvard.edu/fellows/ . An application includes a cover form, a research proposal, letters of reference, a curriculum vitae, and other relevant materials as detailed in the instructions. Full instructions for submitting applications through the web are contained in the Call for Proposals.

The application deadline is November 5, 2009 (5:00 pm EST). The Einstein Fellow appointments are expected to begin on or about 1 September 2010. Women and members of minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Southern California Center for Galaxy Evolution invites applications for Fall 2010 Center Fellowship positions. These positions are offered as part of a research initiative aimed at promoting collaborations between the five southern UC campuses: Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, which are all within a few hours' drive. CGE Fellowships provide an opportunity for highly qualified postdoctoral scholars to conduct theoretical or observational research at any of the five campuses in areas broadly related to galaxy formation, including (but not limited to) galaxy evolution, Galactic astronomy, early star formation, and AGN phenomena. The Fellowship provides up to three years of support with an excellent, competitive salary plus benefits and a generous annual research budget. One of the primary objectives of this program is to promote collaboration between the five Southern UC campuses. Applications will be judged on research excellence and, in part, on their likelihood for promoting collaboration between at least two campuses. Thus, we require the candidate to specify a first-choice and second-choice host campus and to maintain faculty contacts at these two campuses throughout the fellowship. The minimum qualification is a Ph.D. in physics, astrophysics, or related field. Applications must be submitted electronically at

Applications must include a statement of past research (up to 3 pages), a research proposal (up to 3 pages), CV, and the names of pre-arranged faculty contacts at two of the CGE campuses. Applicants should arrange to have three letters of support submitted electronically at the web address above. Applications must be received by December 1, 2009 in order to receive full consideration.

Back to top.9. Executive Vice President of AURAFrom: Pat Knezek [pknezek@noao.edu]

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) seeks to establish the position of Executive Vice President of AURA. This is a new position. The Executive Vice President would functionally serve as a deputy to the President and second in the overall corporate management structure. We are seeking an individual with an outstanding background in science or science policy, and management. The person must convey a strong vision and a demonstrated leadership and talent for administration in a complex and evolving environment.

The Executive Vice President will act on behalf of the President, will represent AURA and the President, and will carry out special initiatives at the direction of the President. Factors that will be considered in the selection will include: familiarity with current issues in the nation's astronomy program; familiarity with the Federal budget and policy process; experience in dealing with Federal funding agencies including NSF and NASA; and an understanding of the basic mission and role of AURA.

Salary and compensation will be established at a level appropriate to the candidate's experience and comparable to senior staff levels within AURA. The Search Committee will begin evaluating applications on January 1, 2010. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applications should include a description of the candidate's experience, relevant accomplishments, a resume, a list of three references, and the individual's written view of the future landscape for astronomy and where AURA should fit in. Applications will be kept confidential, and should be sent to:

Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. AURA is an EOE/AA/F/D/V employer

Questions related to this search should be directed to Bradley Peterson, Chair of the AURA Executive Vice President Search Committee at Peterson_at_astronomy.ohio-state.edu

Information and updates regarding this search are available on

www.aura-astronomy.org

Back to top.10. Tenure Track Position at Case Western Reserve UniversityFrom: WIPHYS Oct 16, 2009

As part of its on-going commitment to physics at the interface between particle physics and cosmology/astrophysics, Case Western Reserve University Department of Physics seeks candidates for a tenure-track junior position possessing an outstanding record of innovative research and a commitment to teaching at all levels. The successful candidate will interact with theoretical, experimental and observational faculty, research staff and students in the departments of Physics and Astronomy, especially in the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics (CERCA), complementing and augmenting their research programs with a vigorous program of their own. Broader interdisciplinary connections through University Initiatives such as the Institute for the Science of Origins are also supported. Responsibilities include conducting a vigorous program of innovative and funded research, supervising graduate students, teaching, and university service. The standard teaching load is one course per semester.

Qualifications for the positions include a Ph.D. or equivalent in physics or a closely related discipline, as well as a record of outstanding scholarly research appropriate to the level of the position. Candidates must have a strong interest in teaching and possess the skills needed to be an effective instructor. Information about our department is available on the website

Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2009 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications complete by this date will receive the fullest consideration. All applicants should submit a letter of application, CV, and statements of research plans and teaching as a single pdf file by email to pat2009_at_phys.case.edu.

Applicants should arrange for at least three letters of recommendation to be sent electronically to the same address. If electronic submission is not possible, paper applications may be submitted to PAT Search, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7079 USA. Questions regarding the search may be directed to Prof. Glenn Starkman at glenn.starkman_at_case.edu or to Prof. Tanmay Vachaspati at txv7_at_case.edu.

Glenn Starkman Professor of Physics and of Astronomy Director of the Institute for the Science of Origins Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics